Monthly Archives: October 2012

Britain Begins is the title of Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe’s latest book from Oxford University Press. In theory it costs thirty quid, but you could probably get it for closer to twenty. Either way, it’s unbelievably good value for money, … Continue reading →

The Forestry Commission have just announced that a deadly disease of native ash trees has been imported into Britain and has escaped and been found on their land in East Anglia. In fairness, the Commission staff are moving heaven and … Continue reading →

With imminent unemployment staring me in the face I’ve been rethinking my world. Well actually, I haven’t. In point of fact, yesterday Maisie and I spent a very pleasant day in London, listening to a lecture on May Morris at … Continue reading →

Today Channel Four announced that Time Team would cease to be broadcast after Series 20, which goes out early next year. So what went right? How come we managed to keep a big-budget TV series on the nation’s free-view screens … Continue reading →

Is it just me, or are modern designed gardens almost always urban in style and feel? Some resemble stage sets more than places in the real world. Walking around the ‘gardens’ at Chelsea, I soon crave the sight of flies … Continue reading →

I’ve just returned from a day’s visit to the Cranborne Ancient Technology Centre, in deepest rural Dorset. It’s a wonderful place. Everyone, even slightly interested in the past, should pay it a visit. To my huge shame, the last time … Continue reading →

Life is an extraordinary process and nothing is more remarkable than its inception. It’s a great shame that in our hung-up society we choose either to ignore it or, worse, make smutty jokes about it – and I’ve been as … Continue reading →